Interview with audiovisual sampling duo Addictive TV

Mark Vidler and Graham Daniels spent five years travelling the world, filming and recording musicians locations in less than conventional settings, including halfway up a mountain in Lanzarote.

The recording sessions included finding and recording improvisations of musicians playing unusual instruments before heading back to the studio and figuring which recordings would go together to form whole tracks.

In their live shows, the pair mix the audio samples with video recordings of the musicians improvising, giving the audience a clearer appreciation of the different elements that have to come together to make it all work.

Mark and Graham spoke to the Packet before their gig at The Poly on Thursday May 31:

What was it about sampling that first attracted you?

Graham: Way back when I started, it was partly the whole re-cycling idea of creating something new from bits and pieces, making music from different sounds. But also - bearing in mind we’re an AV act, so all our music comes with connected video - it was to progress sampling further and take that next logical step into video sampling to create something more than music could on its own, bringing something new to audiences with very different creative possibilities. We’ve been sampling films and creating alternative movie trailers for many years now, bringing unusual associations of sounds and images into our work, and this led directly onto to the whole idea of Orchestra of Samples – the concept of sampling our own audiovisual archive of musicians recorded all around the world.

Mark: My first encounter with 'sampling' was back in the mid 1980's via the Steinski 'Lessons' bootlegs that surfaced during the advent of Hip-Hop and to be honest it was the naughtiness of stealing snatches of other people’s records that was the appeal! I'd just acquired a Tascam Porta One 4-Track cassette recorder and set about making my own mixes, sampling from funk, soundtrack and pop LP's, even going to the extent of recording dialogue from the Banana Splits TV Show on VHS that I had by holding a microphone to the TV speaker. I still have those recordings! There you go, all my teenage music-making secrets via the art of sampling, exposed in one paragraph...!

You’ve been making music for a while now, how has the industry changed since you started?

Graham: It’s changed a lot! A lot of good and a lot of bad, probably in equal measure. As audiovisual artists, video sharing sites like Youtube, Vimeo and then later social media really changed things enormously, allowing audiences to see our work outside of only live situations - it’s hard to believe some of these sites are only just over a decade old! And whilst streaming has made music so much more accessible, it’s also made music into a strange kind of almost value-less commodity - everywhere is totally over-saturated making it harder for acts and artists to get noticed or make a living, but the opportunity to perform now is 100 times more than it used to be, which is a very positive thing indeed!

Mark: I've often deliberated over whether the industry has changed for the worse. I'll bemoan the fact that I think it's not as good as the old days but I put that down to the romance of nostalgia and thinking that it was so much better in the 90's when I was in a band gigging & releasing records etc but as an artist it's just as hard trying to break through now as it was 30 years ago but there are certainly more independent labels and outlets to get your music heard and consumed. It's certainly better for the music consumer! Discovering both new and old bands or artists is easier and with the internet there is no excuse not to hit the search engines and trawl the blogs, youtube, bandcamp etc and dig deep into what's being created. It's a great time to be a 'music lover' that's for sure.

How have changes in technology changed how you produce music/video?

Graham: Things have changed hugely over time in just own career. A massive game changer back in the day was the introduction of DVD turntables, that was a huge leap forward with what we do but even that was 15 years ago now! These days, apart from better software and faster processing power, I’d say the biggest change that’s really helped is the size and cost of technology, it’s all shrunk - particularly laptops and storage drives for video. It’s now much more portable than it ever was.

Mark: Reiterating what Graham says, the process of recording, filming and capturing is certainly a lot more portable than it used to be, and that's an advantage when travelling such distances in the manner we do. But also speaking from an audio perspective, arranging software is a pleasure to use and so much sonic flexibility can be used within one piece of software. For years I liked the simplicity of Sony Acid but in recent years the switch to Logic has completely sped up the writing, composing and arranging process tenfold.

What was it like working with such a diverse group of artists for Orchestra of Samples?

Graham: Humbling in one word. It’s been completely eye-opening working with so many talented musicians! And the whole creation of Orchestra of Samples has been one hell of a journey, learning so much about traditional instruments from around the world, it's been a kind of long-term live hands-on ethnomusicology course!

Mark: A pleasure and life experience! It's certainly broadened my interest in the variety of wonderful musical instruments that are made and played around the world and the amount of super talented artists that we've encountered on our journey. It was also the enthusiasm by many of the artists that came through in their improvisations that’s made it a really rewarding experience.

Is there anything that stands out to you as a highlight from the project?

Graham: All of it! Hard to just pick-out one or two highlights – but one highlight was discovering back in the studio that an eru, the one string Chinese violin, that we recorded in a park on a chilly day in Beijing blended beautifully with piano and acoustic guitar we had recorded in sunny Colombia, you’ll see it in the show! Otherwise, perhaps a highlight was performing the project in Mexico City at the National Centre for the Arts – that was incredible and memory I won’t forget!

Mark: Too many to mention! Normally the more out of the ordinary recording locations spring to mind like halfway up a mountain in Lanzarote, right next to areas where many of the exterior scenes for the movie One Million Years BC were filmed! r some of the beautiful locations in Brazil and Mexico where the food and drink was equally attractive! To be quite honest it was a highlight to finally see the completed first album get released, after such an exciting journey up to that point and it to finally be available for people to take home and experience in some way too.

Have you visited Falmouth before? What did you think of it, or if not, are you looking forward to it?

Graham: A couple of times, I remember the harbour but it was quite a while ago - my dad used to live in Honiton in Devon, which wasn’t a million miles away. But while we’re there next week though I really want to visit Rick Stein’s fish and chip restaurant! I think he’s great.

Mark: I've been close by to Falmouth but never visited properly, so am extremely excited about the upcoming show and experiencing some of the local delights! I hear that your Fish & Chips are of a high standard and I can't wait to 'sample' some of that famous Falmouth Cider... if there's any left over from the Folk & Cider Fayre that is!

Make sure to catch Addictive TV when they play The Poly on Thursday. Tickets are available at thepoly.org.